Please help identify our little collection?

[massrog]

I convinced my wife that she needed a new strand of SSP pearls at an estate auction the other day and when we went to put them away we realized that over the years she had accumulated a collection we had forgotten. I found Pearl-Guide and have become slightly obsessed I think (there's so much info here)! I've already received a bunch of help from PearlDreams and CathyKeshi which is Greatly appreciated but I'm hoping for a little more here. First I will post a pic of the collection and identify the ones I have been taught about then I'll show the two I am having the most trouble with mainly because of the shape. Well here goes...
starting from the left 1 &3 are my late mom's imitations, 2 is also Mom's but is "real", 4 &5 are the ones I'm curious about right now, 6&7 are unidentified antique shop buys, 8 is vintage Mikimoto, 9 is a mixed piece I bought during our first year of marriage and was the first "major" jewelry purchase other than our rings, 10 is the SSP strand that started all this.
Any help with type/terminology for the multi-strand pieces would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

The more background information you can give us about these items, the better. Provenance, if the metal is stamped with any marks, etc.

These two strands have the sort of shapes and colors one sees in cultured freshwater pearls from China, but if you have history on them that leads you to think otherwise, tell us.

 

[massrog]

The only history I have on these is that I purchased these in a very nice vintage Jewelry boutique in a mall just north of Seattle while waiting for my wife to get out of an artist workshop, and as I did it on my own they couldn't have been too expensive. The tongue on the necklace clasp is stamped "18" at the very tip as if the "k" was left off and the bracelet clasp is stamped 750 on both sections and the tongue end is in a lozenge with a flattened diamond hallmark with a bird in it above.
I was thinking fresh water as well due to the "squashed" appearance of each pearl but without any other reason. I have no reason to doubt China as point of origin. Just out of curiosity how long has China been producing/exporting FWP's?
As usual, Thanks very much for the info!
BTW I was planning to get most of the "real" pieces restrung aside from the new SSP's. Are these two worth the expense and should they be knotted or loose as they appear to be now?

 

[BWeaves]

These are definitely Chinese freshwater pearls. They are the button shape (flat on one side, rounded on the other) that was being produced around 10 to 20 years ago.

Back in the 1980s Chinese freshwater pearls were the Rice Krispie shape. Then they got better by changing the mussel they used and how they implanted the mantle tissue and the pearls became button shaped or potato shaped by the 2000s. Today, the pearls are much rounder, and the pearl farmers even sometimes insert round nuclei so the freshwater pearls rival akoya pearls and South Sea pearls. When the pearls are not quite round, they are 100% nacre, all pearl.

I've really grown to appreciate the organic shapes of the baroque (non-round) pearls, because it means the pearls are all nacre. Basically, all the benefits of a natural pearl, but less expensive.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Your item probably dates back to when gold was much less expensive and button shaped pearls were more expensive. Now it's the other way around. Nowadays the gold in those pieces is worth much more than the pearls-- assuming it is actually gold. Today you can't trust gold hallmarks in products coming out of China-- it is not unusual to find gold plated base metal stamped 14K. Your piece is older however, and may not have been assembled in China, and the metal may be actual 18K gold.

I don't know that I'd have them restrung, assuming you wish to keep them in the same 3-strand configuration. The silk does not appear to have stretched. If you want them strung differently, you could leave them unknotted except for the end few pearls. The pearls nest nicely and the appearance (and length) would change with knots. Knots are usually 0.3-0.4mm wide. But the pearls are small so that would be a lot of knots, and it adds up to an inch or more of length on the necklace; less on the bracelet but it could affect fit more on the bracelet.

 

[massrog]

BWeaves thank you for the information! Since you mentioned baroque's I'll have to get the boss to dig out the first birthday gift I ever bought her which was also the first piece of jewelry I ever commissioned so I can post it later this week. She still says it's one of her favorite pieces. If I remember right my buddy who managed the store said it was a FWP but didn't say from where. That was back in'84 so do you have any idea where large irregular baroque's (1"x3/8") were coming in from?

 

[massrog]

Well since the rest are "accounted for" might I ask for info on the last two? The two antique shop buys are the only ones left that I know nothing about so if either of you or anyone else can give any insights I would appreciate it very much. Again, Thanks in advance!!! The two orphaned looking ones in the middle (going in for restringing in a couple of weeks, after the SSP's get the new clasp).

 

[Pearl Dreams]

They are very round and have nice overtones and luster, so I'm going to say akoyas for the larger of the two. Probably also for the smaller ones but the image is a bit too blurry.

As for the large irregular one, do post a photo. Is it a mabe or blister pearl?

 

[massrog]

Here is a closer (still a little blurry) look.
https://postimg.cc/kRSGGfFK

 

[Pearl Dreams]

They could be small akoyas or they could be small freshwaters that are not very old at all.
What is the metal of the finding?

 

[massrog]

They could be small akoyas or they could be small freshwaters that are not very old at all.
What is the metal of the finding?

The clasp is hallmarked 10K with a stylized "S".

 

[massrog]

They are very round and have nice overtones and luster, so I'm going to say akoyas for the larger of the two. Probably also for the smaller ones but the image is a bit too blurry.

As for the large irregular one, do post a photo. Is it a mabe or blister pearl?

Here it is. Sorry for the photo. It's not nearly so "yellow". Roughly 40mm long.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

The clasp is hallmarked 10K with a stylized "S".

Akoyas, based on the clasp, the appearance of the pearls and the way they get quite a bit smaller near the clasp even though the strand as a whole is small.

Here it is. Sorry for the photo. It's not nearly so "yellow". Roughly 40mm long.

Could be a natural freshwater pearl, possibly American.

 

[massrog]

These shots are a much better representation. In daylight I didn't need the overhead lights.

 

[massrog]

Based on my reading I'm guessing these are Akoya?

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I would say yes, akoyas.

 

[massrog]

I remembered that my wife had made a couple of impulse buys at a gallery in Kirkland, WA. while on one of her art workshop trips. The necklace was actually on the artist who made it! The earrings were made by the same lady but I'm not sure of the pearls. I cannot figure out what the necklace pearls are or why they are "damaged" ?

 

[Pearl Dreams]

The necklace pearls are low quality FWP, the dark ones being dyed.

The earrings look like imitation pearls with rhinestones.